Missing oil cap - 2020

Howdy all,

Had a long road trip to NM about 8 hours, running higher revs with my 33's, etc. Been back a couple of weeks, checked under the hood...oil cap missing. I ordered an aluminum one off of Amazon, but figured I'd hit the parts store to get a replacement temporarily. Turns out....from what the AutoZone fella said, they sell a lot of these caps for the 3rd gens. Maybe vibrated off. Anyone else have this issue? Yeah, I feel like a dumbass....but nope, hasn't been in for an oil change, and I'm the only one whoever works on it anyways. So...it's on me.

 

that's strange. my oil cap is to tight i had to use pliers to get it off last time. I do have the 2TR-FE engine though.

 

I don't do my own oil changes and don't check it. My reputable ma/pa garage does it and if it gets lost or whatever reason they will come good for anything cause they are the only ones doing or touching my truck. just saying

 

No issues yet with the oil cap on my 2020 either.....that I know of...I haven't popped the hood to check on it since last fall when I did my oil change.

 

yep, so do i every time. 3.5
i bet forgot to put it back on at last oil change?

 

Spent hundreds of miles on rough roads and my cap had been fine.

I’m actually surprised there is not a single rattle in my truck.

 

the roads here in eastern NC are like they got hit by multiple artillery strikes. i think it's the sandy soil and lack of road maintenance. Really helping me flush out my rattles. I just glued my headliner by the overhead console. My next rattle is somewhere in the access cab door ( i think the door panel trim is contacting the window glass). also bought some weatherstripping to try and reduce the wind noise from the passenger side door.

 

My guess is you didn't install it the last time you added oil.

88.2% of the AutoZone folks are descendants of by here pay here used car salesmen. Use care with their *facts*.

BTW, I did the same thing on the RAV a couple years ago. Left the cap lying on the engine, 500+ mile round trip. Cap was still there, but the 1/2 qt or so of oil that got splashed out made a real mess of my very clean engine bay. And soaked the hood insulation so bad I had to replace it. So yea, I get the dumb feeling too!

 

Normally I would say you either left it off or loose.
But there seems to a lot of “Missing Oil Cap” threads. And the vast majority of them are on the 3rd Gen 3.5 engine.
Maybe there is more to it, maybe there isn’t. But it’s starting to trend.

 

I hear folks complaining about the roads in Eastern NC occasionally. Having lived here for 30+ years I can factually state that until you’ve driven the roads in NE Ohio or Eastern PA, you are not allowed to complain.

 

oh, i've driven all of them. Ohio and PA are even worse. but around here, it's even neighborhood roads that are bad. It's just lack of maintenance and money in the area.

 

Me as well. Mine is always crazy tight, despite being twisted on with minimal force.

 

Mine is also tight with minimal force.

 

Well, count me in the missing cap camp. I did an oil change 500 miles ago. Because of this thread, I tightened my cap very tight. Went to install some ditch lights, and first thing I noticed was it was missing. Not under the hood anywhere I can see. Bought a new one at Auto Zone for $8. Has a nice, thick rubber gasket. When I tightened it on, you could feel it grab well. Doubt this one will come loose...

 

See, I'm not the only one! Glad you found it before rolling down a dusty road

 

Whelp... adding another one to the ranks. Changed my oil ~800 miles ago and just opened the hood to see a missing oil cap. I'm positive I put it back on but maybe it wasn't tight all the way? The replacement threaded cap I got from AutoZone has a thick rubber gasket and seems a lot better, doesn't feel like it will come off. No oil splatter on the hood or engine and dipstick still shows full. Got lucky.

Lots of oil cap missing threads on TW, either a lot of us are incompetent or it's an intermittent issue on certain trucks. Going with the former but who knows.

 

Time for some safety wire

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/uc2rVaf9fss?si=gXgttXeakYn-qaVw

 

Oil caps vibrating off on 3rd gen 3.5 is definitely a thing. I work at a Toyota dealership, and I’ve had several return customers where I know good and well I put the oil cap back on, and it wasn’t there at the next oil change. I have even had this happen to my own 3.5 3rd generation. Thankfully, buying replacement oil filter caps isn’t a problem for me.

 

I change my own oil and always have and I just went out and checked mine it’s tight as can be. I’m not saying that there is not an issue because they’re to many threads about it I’m just lucky I guess.